Zaka Ashraf becomes head of PCB’s new management committee

The PCB elections for the next board chairman were due to be held on June 27, but a number of written petitions filed by former members of the management committee in various high courts across the country challenging the composition of the board led to them being held indefinitely. time were postponed.

The Supreme Court of Balochistan, without hearing the other side, issued a stay order and adjourned the hearing to July 17, causing great turmoil in the functioning of PCB. The Ministry of Interprovincial Coordination (IPC) quoted in its summary for the Prime Minister, who is also the patron saint of the PCB, that the numerous lawsuits that may hinder the proper functioning of the PCB are due to the “inefficiency” of Ahmed Shehzad Farooq Rana, the incumbent Election Commissioner of the PCB.

The ministry wrote that “in view of the court cases, and in the wake of impending international cricket events and major decisions at the International Council of Cricket, and to ensure seamless and efficient management at the helm of PCB, proposes the establishment of a new management committee for a period of four months as a measure to overcome the difficulties arising from the current scenario… The ministry believes that Rana can be removed from his position, and Mahmood Iqbal Khakwani, lawyer at the Supreme Court of Pakistan can be appointed as the new commissioner of PCB”.

The board of the PCB consists of ten members: four regional representatives, four service representatives and the two members nominated by the Prime Minister. These members hold a vote to determine the next chairman. Historically, it is the appointment of the Prime Minister to the PCB board of governors who becomes chairman for a three-year term, and Ashraf, the overwhelming favorite at the time, was all set to become chairman.

Sethi had headed the interim management committee that led the PCB since last December, but his term ended on June 20. The committee was mandated to conduct the election under the 2014 PCB statutes, but the task was never completed.